A new set of Bhatkal brothers poses a challenge to country’s security

When the ISIS chose the Ansar-ut Tawhid fi Bilad al-Hind (AuT) as its associate for operations in south Asia, it knew it was making the right choice. The AuT was initially led by two brothers who had left India to fight against it but who then fell apart, but a section of the outfit rose again to become a part of the global jihad with focus on India.

One of the brothers, Shafi Armar, took upon himself to wage a war against India. After the IM members based in Pakistan split in 2013, Indian agencies were certain the threat from the Armar brothers from Bhatkal in Karnataka was over as they had already wiped out modules in India led by Yasin Bhatkal and his deputies. As the ISI kept Iqbal and Riyaz Bhatkal under their control, there were a few ambitious men from Azamgarh in north India who were smart enough to dodge them.

"‹This was the group comprising Abdul Khader Sultan Armar, his brother Shafi Armar and others. They fled to Afghanistan and Pakistan and became part of the al-Qaida for a while. However, the ambitious men soon ditched Qaida as they believed that only the ISIS would be able to survive in the long run. The AuT, formed in November 2013, soon began flirting with the ISIS. They were quick to associate with the ISIS ideology, unlike the PoK-based outfits. Not just that, AuT members were willing to fight for them as well. The AuT's media wing, al-Isabah productions — supervised by Shafi Armar — posted videos of ISIS chief al-Baghdadi's Friday sermons and was soon "adopted" by the caliphate.

Agencies are wary of the AuT danger as they knew Shahnawaj was capable of reviving his SIMI contacts and carry out terror strikes. Soon, Al-Baghdadi declared Sultan Armar the Amir of AuT. Shafi was more into doing things through the internet — recruitment or communications. AuT first gained prominence when it publicly acknowledged the terrorists killed in Batla House and called them martyrs.

This was the first time any terrorist group had owned up to the slain terrorists, clearing the air over the encounter. This development, exclusively reported by TOIin September 2014, had the intelligence agencies and special cell mount exhaustive surveillance on their members and track their movements. However, AuT came in the global spotlight when two members — Sultan Armar and Bada Sajid, the man who had escaped Batla House, were killed last year.

ISIS declared them martyrs who fought the US forces. Sultan's brother Shafi took over. However, he turned out to be deadlier and turned back the focus on India. Shafi, who is heading Indian recruitment, is now the biggest threat for the country, agencies accept.